It’s breast cancer awareness month, and there are a lot of exciting advancements coming out in that area—like urine tests that can detect breast cancer and gene tests that determine if you need chemo. But that sort of news is almost normal now, so we here at redOrbit have decided to highlight some more unusual facts about tatas that might just… jiggle your world.
1. Women having breasts is weird in the first place.
As far as we know, Homo sapiens is the only species in the primate world that has plump breasts following puberty. In other species, breasts only grow large in order to breastfeed, and reduce in size afterwards. Meanwhile, humans stay busty even after menopause. There are plenty of theories why, but no general consensus just yet.
2. The Guinness Book of World Records’ largest natural breasts are 70 inches around.
That’s nearly six feet around! This translates roughly to a size 48V bra—which doesn’t exist. The current record-holder, Annie Hawkins, wears a U.S. size 52I instead.
3. Men have nipples because everyone starts out as a woman.
Every single human on earth started out as one sex: female. This is because the blueprint of fetuses is designed this way, and in fact it takes six weeks for fetuses with Y chromosomes to begin producing the testosterone that leads to the development of male characteristics. Because it takes this long, everyone develops nipples.
4. Hungry and less-financially secure men prefer large breasts.
This is at least according to a 2013 study of 266 Malaysian men of varying socioeconomic statuses and 124 hungry and full men. Likewise, wealthier men preferred smaller breasts.
5. The bra is a pretty recent invention.
Up until World War I, corsets were all the rage. The problem, though, was that corsets often relied of steel inserts to create their shape—which the army needed. So, women were asked to give them up. Happily, an alternative was found in the invention of Mary Phelps Jacob in 1913: the modern bra.
6. The first breast implants used some weird fillers.
In the early- to mid- 1900s, surgeons used ivory, glass balls, ground rubber, and ox cartilage (among a lot of other bad ideas) in attempts to plump up breasts. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t successful.
7. Men get mastectomies and breast reductions, too.
In a similar vein, men also can develop breast cancer, regardless of the size of their chest. In fact, more male patients opt for double mastectomies than female ones, according to a recent study.
Men also receive another surgery typically associated with chesty women: Breast reductions. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 22,939 men had this kind of surgery in 2013.
And lastly, and most importantly:
8. Boobs can (accidentally) kill you dead.
In 2010, UK resident Claire Smedley nearly smothered her boyfriend to death while they were doing the dirty. Smedley, who has size 40 LL breasts, apparently misinterpreted his flailing for excitement, and finally realized something was wrong after she noticed he wasn’t moving or breathing.
What a way to go, though.
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Feature Image: Jenni Konrad/Flickr
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